Apparatus for submarine signaling



Sept. 17, 1946.. R. L. WILLIAMS 2,497,697

APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE SIGNALING Filed Sept. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lNvEN TORu ROBERT L.W|Lums BY.

Sept, 1?, 194a.

R. L. WILLIAMS APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE- SIGNALING Filed Sept. 14, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I IIIILUH /ZY 1 24 A WE: \m

s l Q I I E S 1 IT I I Q 55a i 5 52 laid i5 i I 3-: i L Z3 Q 3 y 38 i 2 3s v If INVENTOR. I Roses? L, WHLLIAMS ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 1?, 1946 2,407,697 APPARATUS roa SUBMARINE SIGNALING Robert Longfellow Williams, Newton, Mass, as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to Submarine Signal Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application September 14, 1935, Serial No. 40,587

9 Claims. (Cl. 181-05) The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for submarine signaling. More particularly the invention relates to apparatus for controlling the position of and for mounting a submarine signaling device'such as a waveenergy sender or a receiver. 7

For some purposes it is desirable to mount submarine signaling apparatus, such a sending lator is usually mounted on a rigid rotatable support so that its radiating face may be turned about a vertical axis to face in any desired direction.

It will be evident, however, that if the ship rolls, the axis of the wave beam which is being produced or along which reception takes place will not remain horizontal or in its normal plane,

but will be tipped at an angle to the horizontal and raised or lowered from its normal position. Furthermore, the roll of the ship will not only throw the sound beam up and down, but will also deflect the beam sidewise. Both communication and echo ranging are difiicult under such conditions.

Furthermore, water conditions are sometimes encountered where the temperature gradient is 1 such as to cause a deflection of the compressional wave energy from a straight line and to make it take an upwardly or downwardly curved path. With the usual type of mounting such as has been described above, the range through which signaling may be successfully accomplished will be considerably reduced under such water conditions.

According to the present invention an improved-mounting for the oscillator is provided whereby it automatically keeps its radiating face in a vertical plane. A further feature of the present invention is the provision of means for positively controlling the position of the radiating face of the oscillator with respect to the vertical.

Other features of. the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings in which Fig. 1 shows an oscillator mounting in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of Fig. '1; Fig. 3 shows a modified .an integral part of the oscillator cover.

arrangement; Fig. 4 is an end view of the oscillator shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a modification of a portion of the arrangement shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 6 is a detail of the dial and pointer shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 1 shows an end view of the oscillator l for ending and receiving compressional wave energy. The radiating face 2 of the oscillator is circular in shape and its diameter is large compared to the wave length of the compressional waves whereby the oscillator has a directional characteristic. compressional wave energy is therefore sent and received chiefly in the direction indicated by the arrow. The back plate of the oscillator is provided with a weight 3 which may be The oscillator is mounted by means of pivots 4 in a watertight spherical casing composed of a relatively heavy back half 5 and a thin front half 8 facing the diaphragm. Integral with the back half 5 of the spherical shell is a flange l by means of which the oscillator is mounted on the vessel or attached to a suitable hoisting and lowering and/or rotating gear. The interior of the spherical casing is after assembly filled with sea water or other suitable liquid through an opening closed by the plug 8. Thus compressional wave energy can pass freely from the radiating surface 2 through the spherical shell 6 and into the outer water. Also the oscillator is protected from the force of the water due to the motion of the vessel.

The pivots 4 are preferably mounted in ball bearings so that friction is reduced to a minimum. An enlarged section along the line IIII of one of the pivots l is shown in Fig. 2. The pivot 4 consists of a steel stud mounted in the body of the oscillator I above its center of gravity and supported in the stainless steel ball bearing 9 which is driven through a hole in the shell 5 and rests against the shoulder as shown in Fig. 2. In assembly the ball bearing is fitted into the hole in the shell 5 and after the oscillator has been fitted into the shell 5, the pin 4 is driven through the ball bearing into the oscillator. The hole is then closed by the plug it.

It will now be noted that the oscillator as suspended in the pivots forms a compound pendulum and its radiating face 2 will consequently be kept in a vertical plane by the action of gravity. The compound pendulum has a number of advantages over a simple pendulum. The

weight which keeps the oscillator vertical is concentrated on the oscillator itself and consequently the spherical casing surrounding the oscillator need be made no larger than it would be if the pendulum arrangement were not used. Keeping the size of the casing small is important when the oscillator housing is exterior to the ship, since the water resistance against it, when the ship '50 moves through the water, must be kept at a ment for this purpose as well as for rotating the oscillator diaphragm to face in different horizontal directions is known to those skilled in the-art and is schematically indicated inFig. 3.

An additional feature of thelcompoundflpendulum is that it is very muchless.afiected'byithe lateral motion of the ship when it rolls. There are two motions to be considered which afiect a pendulum when mounted on a "ship. "One is the roll of the ship and the other is the lateral motion of the ship, which increases with the distance from the point about Which the ship rolls.

Since the greater part of the weight of "the oscillator in the compound pendulum mounting in accordance With the present invention is "balanced on the axis, it is not affected at 'allby'a lateral motion of the ship. The weight which keeps the oscillator vertical an'd'lowers the center of gravity below the axis is small in proportion to the total weight of the oscillator and the kinetic energy stored up in it-by the lateral motion of the ship has to overcome the inertia of the heavy oscillator before it will turn it. The compound pendulum mounting, as shown, will therefore remain substantially vertical regardless of the motion of the ship.

.It will, of course, be understood that the weight of the mass 3 must be properly proportioned with respect to the weight of the rest of the oscillator and also with respect to the distance of the pivots 4 above the center of gravity of the combined oscillator and mass so that the period of swing of the compound pendulum is sufficiently less than the period of roll of the ship to insure that the oscillator remains stat In considering the I tionary when the ship rolls. weight of the oscillator the effect of the liquid within the spherical casing must also be taken into account.

The turning of the oscillator with respect to its spherical housing is limited by the stops I! and I2, shown in 'Fig. 1, so that the oscillator is prevented from accidentally making a complete revolution which would injure the electric conductors 13.

shell is made as small as possible so that "the .liquid within the shell will turn with the oscils'hips motion will not cause deflection of the oscillator. So also, in the modifications mentioned below, theforce required to turn the fosc'illator on its pivots is reduced.

As mentioned above, it may be desirable at times to alter the position of the radiating sur- .face of the oscillator .and to hold it in some plane other than the vertical. Itmayalso under some conditions be desirable to have .a more positive control over the position *of the oscillator than that which is given by the pendulum .ar-

The space between the periphery of the oscillator and the interior of "the spherical "motor 2 I.

. handwheel 32.

The shaft '151passes through a watertight bearing 1! and'iis usually arranged so that it may be rotated and/or raised and lowered. Suitable arrangements for raising and lowering and for rotatingthe shaft l5 are known in the art and are, therefore, not shown in the drawings. A gear 22 to which suitable rotating apparatus may be connected is, however, "shownmountedatthe upper end ofthe shaft [5.

At the'top of the oscillator I an arcuate gear 18 is 'm'ountedwhich meshes with'a pinion gear 19 "fixed't'o the end of a shaft "20 which passes through the inside of the hollow shaft l5 to the 'Afront View o'fthegear 1-8 is shown in Fig. 4. The motor 2| is preferably a selfsynchronous motor "driven by "a self-synchronous generator 23 which, 'in turn, is operated'by the "sectorgear 2G fastened'to the-shaft 25 of'a y oscope'2'6. The'gyroscope is hung-in a frame 21 moun'ted in any convenient placeon the ship.

Since the angle *by which "theaxis ofthesound energy beam is tipped "when the-ship rolls is dependent upon the direction in which the diamaintaining ade'flnite position with respect tothe vertical, will keep the radiating surface of the 'oscillator in "a corresponding position regardless of the'roll'of the vessel 'or'the directionin which the oscillator may have been turned in the horizontal plane. It will he understood that the yroscope can be adjusted to keep the radiating surface of the oscillator always in the vertical plane or in any desired plane inclined 'to the vertical.

In order to avoid the expense'o'f a gyroscope a simplified modification of this arrangement may 'be'used as'shown in Fig. 5. Onlythecontrolar- 'rangements are shown'in this figure "and it will be understood that the oscillator mounting is otherwise the same as shown 'in'Figs. 3 and 4. According'to this figure the self-synchronous generator '23 is manually operated by means of the .To the shaft of the wheel 32 a pointer 33 is fixed whose position corresponds to the plane'of the :radiating surface of the oscillator and indicates the position of the oscillator diaphragm with respect to :the vertical.

A scale 34, a front view'of which is shown in i 6, is mounted on a shaft 35 fre to turn in bearing 36. At the end of the shaft 35 .a'weight '3'! is "fixed. This weight acts as a pendulum and serves'to keep the -zero mark 'on the scale in a yerticalplanewhen the ship rolls. Consequently if .an operator byturn'ing the h'andwhecl 32keeps the pointer '33 exactly opposite th zero mark on the scale, the radiatingsurface of the oscillator will remain in a vertical plane.

It will be noted that if the oscillator is being rotated in a horizontal plane, the framework 38 pp rt g the motor 23 and the shafts 35 and 35a must likewise be rotated. This can be accomplished by the motor 29 in a similar manner as shown in Fig. 3 with respect to the frame 21. In this case it will be necessary for the operator who is controlling the handwheel 32 to follow the apparatus around or alternatively he may be provided with a platform which moves with the supporting framework 38.

t will be observed that with the modifications of my invention described with referenc to Figures 3 to 6 inclusive, the oscillator can be mounted with its diaphragm somewhat tilted from the vertica1 plane. For example, if the temperature gradient is such as to cause a deflection of the compressional wave energy in an upwardly curved path, the signaling range can be increased by tilting the oscillator downward, and vice versa, and the oscillator can readily be maintained in such a position regardless of the rolling of the ship. However, even with the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 where the oscillator is automatically maintained with its radiating face vertical, an improvement is noted when the ship rolls since by means of the present invention a signaling range will remain constant and will not vary with each roll of the ship.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. In a submarine signaling system, a submarine oscillator adapted to send and receive compressional waves in a direction substantially perpendicular to its radiating surface, means for mounting the oscillator on the vessel in a signaling position including a pivotal suspension along an axis perpendicular to said signaling direction and normally horizontal, the weight of the oscillator being distributed so as to bring its center of gravity sufficiently below said axis of suspension to form a compound pendulum, and means for immersing the entire oscillator in a liquid medium.

2. A submarine signaling system including a submarine oscillator having a substantially circular cross section, means for mounting the oscillator on a vessel including a housing having a substantially spherical interior cavity, means for mounting the oscillator within said housing pivotally on a diameter of said circular cross section and means cooperating with said oscillator and adapted to rotate it about said diameter to maintain the same in a predetermined signaling position independent of rolling of the vessel and a liquid filling the residual space in said housing.

3. In a submarine signaling system, a submarine oscillator having a thin cylindrical shape, watertight spherical housing therefor having a diameter only slightly larger than that of the oscillator, pivot means for mounting the oscillator along a normally horizontal diameter concentrically within said housing, the weight of said oscillator being so distributed as to bring its center of gravity below said mounting axis and a liquid filling the residual space in said housing.

4. In a submarine signaling system, a submarine oscillator having a radiating surface, means for mounting said oscillator on a vessel in operative relation to the outer water, including a hollow shaft extending through the ships skin into the interior of the vessel, means for rotating aid shaft and thereby said oscillator about a normally vertical axis, and means for rotating the oscillator about a normally horizontal axis including a shaft extending through said hollow shaft.

5. In a submarine signaling system, a submarine oscillator adapted to send and receive compressional waves along substantially a single directional axis, a stream-lined housing therefor, means for mounting said oscillator within said housing with the oscillators directional axis substantially horizontal, means for mounting the housing on a vessel in contact with the outer water, means for rotating said housing and thereby said oscillator and its directional axis about a vertical axis and means for rotating said oscillator within said housing about a horizontal axis to a degree suflicient to compensate for the variation of position of the oscillator produced by rolling of the vessel.

6. A submarine signaling system including a submarine oscillator having a substantially circular cross section, means for mounting the oscillator on a vessel including a housing having a substantially spherical interior cavity, mean for mounting the oscillator within said cavity pivotally on a diameter of said circular cross section, said oscillator being constructed to have a center of gravity substantially below said diameter and a liquid filling the residual space in said housing.

'7. In a submarine signaling system, a submarine oscillator having a radiating surface, means for mounting said oscillator on a vessel in operative relation to the outer water, including a hollow shaft extending through the ships skin into the interior of the vessel, a spherical housing fixed to the end of said hollow shaft, means for pivotally mounting the oscillator within said housing on a normally horizontal axis, means for rotating said shaft and thereby said oscillator about a normally vertical axis, and means for rotating the oscillator about a normally horizontal axis including a shaft extending through said hollow shaft, a pinion gear fixed to the end of said shaft within said housing and an arcuate gear fixed to said oscillator and adapted to cooperate with said pinion.

8. In combination, a submarine signaling oscillator, a casing, means pivotally journaling said oscillator in said casing, independent means for rotating said casing and rotating said oscillator about its pivot, means externally positioned of said casing and similarly constructed as said oscillator and mounting, and a plurality of selfsynchronous motor controls operatively connected between said externally positioned means and said casing and oscillator for maintaining the same relative position of said externally positioned means and said oscillator and casing.

9. In combination, a submarine signaling oscillator, means mounting said oscillator to permit its inclination from a vertical position, a casing in which said oscillator is mounted, means for rotating said casing about a vertical axis, mean externally positioned of the casing and mechanically simulating said oscillator and casing, and means interconnecting said externally positioned means with said oscillator and easing whereby the positions of said external means and said oscillator and easing are maintained relatively the same.

ROBERT LONGFELLOW WILLIAMS. 

